Of the 10 University of Washington graduate students who participated in last summer's Storefront Studio project, one actually grew up in Gig Harbor and has deep personal insights about what it's like to live on the peninsula and what could be done to make downtown a vibrant, economically thriving place.

Christian Van Waasen's family moved to Gig Harbor when he was 6 years old. He graduated from Gig Harbor High School in 2005, then moved to Seattle to earn a degree in biology from UW, thinking he'd follow in his father's footsteps and become a doctor.

As it turned out, landscape architecture and architecture proved more interesting, and he's currently working on a double masters degree in those two subjects.

When he had a chance to join the Storefront Studio and help develop concepts to enrich and enliven his hometown, he went for it.

"Downtown Gig Harbor has such tremendous potential and small things can make a huge difference," Van Waasen said in a recent phone interview.

The idea isn't to turn downtown into a place with just a lot of professional offices. "It will function much more as the ‘heart' of the city if there are lots of small, unique businesses downtown to make it a place where people really come and spend time," he said.

For starters, a few more restaurants would help.

From personal experience, Van Waasen knows there's a dearth of restaurants downtown that are affordable for students and families on limited budgets.

"Of course there's the Tides, and I've spent a lot of time there over the years," he said, "but the Tides can get noisy and crowded."

He'd also like to see a few more brewpubs downtown that have food available. "You can capitalize on what 7 Seas has done and expand from that," he said.

One simple solution would be to allow food trucks in the parking lot adjacent to 7 Seas and other downtown spaces.

"It would be great if there was something like a Mexican food truck or Korean tacos which are the big rage in Seattle right now," he said. "There are other places that could work, too."

Someone would have to give the city a dollars-and-cents plan about how small things like that can make money and then work with them, he said.

"That would be the place to start. Just because it's on paper in the city code doesn't make it happen."

Food trucks also might encourage more public use of the downtown piers and other waterfront spaces because people would be looking for places to sit and enjoy the view of the bay while they're eating. "And competition keeps prices low," he added.

More water access is another item on Van Waasen's list of suggestions. He sees a need for "little places where you can walk down to the water and slide in a canoe or a kayak," he said. "People are losing the connection to the water. We need to find ways to get families down to the waterfront and then stay for awhile — not just park their boat there and then drive back home to Canterwood."

Even after growing up in the harbor, Van Waasen still learned new things about his hometown as he worked with the Studio, he said.

"I never knew about the netsheds," he said. "I thought they were just some kind of storage shacks. It was great to learn that they're such an important part of Gig Harbor's history and culture.

"Now I think it's important to find ways to get people to really care about them. I think that getting the kayak club to take care of one of them is a fine idea."

Using the netsheds for public activities also would bring more awareness of their importance. "If they could be used for studios or classes that would be great. We need to get people into them to preserve them. They shouldn't be just monuments. Monuments fall into disuse," he said, because after a while, people forget about them.

For example, he and his fellow Studio participants suggest that a "Welcome to Historic Gig Harbor" sign be added to the brick wall at the bottom of Pioneer Way.

"You could even replace the brick with stone and plantings. That would probably cost less than $10,000, but it would make the wall much more attractive and it would create a sense of pride of place," he said.

Signage also should be added to indicate where public access to the water is available.

Sprucing up the facades of downtown buildings would enliven the visual impression of the waterfront, he said.

The Studio students included "make-overs" of several downtown storefronts in their suggestions. Van Waasen's favorite was their design concept for Mostly Books, he said.

Currently, the two-stall parking space in front of the shop separates the sidewalk from the building itself, rather than drawing customers into the store. The concrete could be replaced with landscape plantings which would be much more welcoming.

The building also would be painted and a taller false front added, and less reflective glass would be used for the windows. New signage would improve the appearance of the store and also of the street as a whole.

"The primary thing is to find ways to invite people to come downtown and stay awhile," Van Waasen said. "Making money is secondary and it will flow naturally from the first thing."

To download a free copy of the Gig Harbor Storefront Studio book, visit storefrontstudio.org/category/gigharbor. To purchase a printed copy, contact the Waterfront Alliance at (253) 514-0071.